TOWN OF CHARLESTOWN
SELECTBOARD MEETING
JULY 14, 2004
Selectboard Present: Steven Neill, Brenda Ferland, Jon LeClair
Staff Present: Jerry Beaudry, Ambulance Service Director
CALL TO ORDER & PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Steve Neill called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
MOMENT OF SILENCE: A moment of silence was observed for Jon Bailey who recently passed away. He retired last April but had been the Director of the Ambulance Service for many years and also served as a volunteer.
AMBULANCE SERVICE:
Steve Neill advised that the reason the Selectboard called this meeting with the Ambulance Service is to try to get some answers to questions that were raised at the last Selectboard meeting. There are four areas of concern. Jerry Beaudry was asked to respond to the concerns.
Ken Place was concerned that it took 25 minutes for an ambulance to response to an auto accident on the Old Acworth Stage and North Hemlock Roads. Jerry Beaudry responded that the accident happened on June 17th. The Incident Report showed that the response time was 16 minutes. It was a busy day and both ambulances were out at the time. A police officer was there instantaneously as he was in the area. It does not appear that there was a delay in notification. He has no qualms about the level of service just the response time.
Deb Clark was concerned about a call for her mother about a year ago in August. There was about a 25-minute delay after her mother was in the ambulance before the transport took place. It appeared that there was a delay waiting for other personnel to arrive even though there was a crew on the scene. Jerry Beaudry said this was a Medicare issue and would not confirm or deny the call. Hypothetically, in the past they rushed to the scene, picked up the patient in the ambulance and drove to the emergency room at the hospital as fast as possible with treatment given at the hospital. Now Charlestown is fortunate to have three paramedics which are the highest trained pre-hospital care providers in the country, except for doctors, so they can do many interventions right at the scene such as IVs,
cardiograms, etc.
Darren Bradley is an Emergency Room Physician’s Assistant (P.A.) at Springfield Hospital and worked at the Rutland Regional Hospital. He advised that scene time is all relative - it actually speeds up the process time in the Emergency Room because they have a taxed nursing staff. It is actually more difficult for them to do immediate definitive care as soon as a patient comes through their doors. Over the process of the last 25 years or so they have increased the level of care that can be done before the patient gets to the hospital and that has proven over-and-over that it saves more lives. Those care levels need to be done very quickly and immediately even before they get to the hospital especially with heart problems. Urgent definitive care as quickly as possible, even inside the
house, is much more of a life saving event than the actual transport.
In a different setting - it would be trauma where they need to get the patient to the hospital as quickly as possible, they are bleeding severely and need surgery, then immediate transport to the hospital is needed but in a medical situation the ambulance crew can take care of the patient as soon as possible.
Bob Davis questioned why they couldn’t get an ambulance crew to a motorcycle accident on a Friday afternoon in July. Jerry Beaudry said there was a two-member crew of Tom Grant and Deb Beaudry but they couldn’t transport because Deb Beaudry isn’t certified yet and the State requires that there be two certified crew members. It was his understanding that they were going to transport by helicopter but then it was deemed appropriate to take the patient to the Springfield Hospital. Steve Neill asked if the Charlestown ambulance was there? Jerry Beaudry responded that the ambulance was being used to bring supplies to the scene.
Steve Neill questioned confusion to respond to a motorcycle accident in North Walpole. Jerry Beaudry said that Tom and Patti Grant were in North Walpole on personal business so were on the scene in a minute. There seemed to be confusion about getting the Charlestown ambulance to the scene. LeFevre Ambulance met the Charlestown ambulance en-route. The patient was quite injured. The Charlestown ambulance returned to the Town barn. Jerry Beaudry and Patti Grant went to Springfield in the LeFevre Ambulance. Tom Grant clarified this incident. He asked the firemen at the scene if they needed any help but they were all set. He radioed by LenTex but could not be heard, they were calling for a medical intercept. He used the cell phone and communicated with Jerry LeFevre. The Charlestown ambulance was parked and locked in a driveway by someone’s house.
Jerry Beaudry gathered some information and documents together and left them with the Selectboard. He keeps track of the number of calls, types of call, responses, etc. that Charlestown has. So far this year there were 18 times that they received calls for assistance from other ambulance services; if they didn’t assist they were already out or personnel was not available. Relative to response times, the State of New Hampshire has a research assistant so the Charlestown calls are sent in. Since 1999 the average response time in the State is 10 minutes. Dale Girard said that in the past the Charlestown average response time was 5 minutes/30 seconds. This year they were up to 7 minutes/20 seconds. If they were to take the non-emergency calls out of the emergency calls that time
might be better.
Ken Place noted that he is not going to dispute the response time. What bothers him is how many members of the ambulance we have, how many live in Town, what are their qualifications and how many are trained for more than being a driver. Response time is crucial. We have to wait for people to come from Vermont to cover the Charlestown ambulances. Steve Neill responded that there are ten EMT members that are certified at this time, one I-Tech, one First Responder, three paramedics, and two are pending certification. Jerry Beaudry advised that two First Responders do not make a crew.
Bob Davis thanked Mr. Beaudry for providing information. He noted that Charlestown puts $80,000 in the budget each year to run the ambulance. In the last year there were two accidents on Main Street in the middle of the afternoon when two other services had to come in to cover. Why can’t we have our own on the scene? Jerry Beaudry said it only cost the Town $48,000 for the ambulance service; by the end of June they had earned $33,000 in billings. He makes $1,000/year as the Director and does his share of calls as well as attends many Selectboard meetings. He goes out on a number of calls for other services and other services do occasionally send out more than one paramedic. The patient gets one bill for the service.
Robert Beaudry questioned the direction of the ambulance service. Could they have 30 members? Is there supposed to be a certain number on the service? Jerry Beaudry said they could have as many people as they want but right now he doesn’t have an extra radio. Jon LeClair felt there could be a rotation on the equipment. Jerry Beaudry felt that with people coming-and-going sharing the equipment would be a mess. The By-Laws state that members have to go to at least 10% of the calls; this is reviewed bi-annually. Robert Beaudry asked if any volunteers have been turned away? Jerry Beaudry responded that they now have two new volunteers. Steve Neill questioned the names vs. numbers on the ambulance member list.
Joan Johnson spoke of an accident when she was struck by a drunk driver but laid in the road in Morway’s Trailer Park for 20 minutes until the ambulance responded but a police officer was there before that. She did receive excellent care and isn’t bashing the ambulance but was questioning why it took so long for a response.
Toby Hogan spoke on the motorcycle accident and the response. He was driving from Claremont and saw the Charlestown police turn around. He turned around and they were on the scene in about five minutes. It was about a 20-minute response time for the ambulance. Steve Neill indicated that the ambulance response time is indicated at 16 minutes.
There was discussion on doing transfers - residents vs. non-residents. Patti Grant advised that this ambulance service does not do transfers from Springfield Hospital to Dartmouth-Hitchcock. They will do a transfer when this Town is covered and it is a necessity. They did one this past weekend, as there was a critical patient from Charlestown. Usually Golden Cross or LeFevre do transfers because they have the staff. Jerry Beaudry said it is a source of revenue for the Town.
Janet Fisk advised that her husband told her never to call the Charlestown Ambulance but he was having a heart attack and she called 9-1-1. After 15 minutes a police officer showed up and after a period of time the out-of-town ambulance did arrive. Eventually a Charlestown ambulance showed up but it was too late, her husband died. Charlestown transported him to the Springfield Hospital. Jerry Beaudry said Springfield came because they had higher trained people. Mrs. Fisk said it took too long.
Gaston Tanguay has lived here for about 20 years. He asked why we have people from Vermont telling us what to do. Who are the officers of this outfit? Jerry Beaudry is the Director, Tom Grant is the Patient Care Officer, Patti Grant is the Training Officer and Trish Patrick is the Finance Officer. Paul Beaudry advised that this service does not spend any money that isn’t approved by the Selectboard. Steve Neill asked who is in charge when Jerry Beaudry isn’t available? Jerry Beaudry said he is always available, as Director, either in person or by phone.
Joan Smith advised that on May 17th they needed an ambulance for her husband. He was put in the ambulance and then two crewmembers left to do another call and left one member in the ambulance with her husband. The next morning he needed a pacemaker. What if he turned worse in the interim period? Jerry Beaudry said the other call was a few houses up the street so they checked there and came back. Mrs. Smith said it was upsetting.
Charles St. Pierre said about three years ago three of his children needed an ambulance. It took about one-half hour for a response. At another incident at the Winter Carnival it took about one-half hour to respond. If you dial 9-1-1 you get the Charlestown Ambulance. The Winter Carnival committee should probably schedule an ambulance to be on the site. Why can’t we call in Golden Cross? Jerry Beaudry said they would try to schedule in the ambulance but there is no State requirement for them to do so. Steve Neill said a person doesn’t have the option of calling an outside service but if you call 9-1-1 you will get the Town ambulance.
Steve Neill reviewed the response times since March and doesn’t know where the 5-minute average response time is coming from - the time from the tone to the response is significantly different. He would like to meet with Jerry Beaudry at some point for clarification.
Nancy Houghton has several concerns. Who do the ambulance service members report to? Is it a consensus of more than one person as to who is accepted into the service? How many ambulances do we have? Steve Neill responded that the Town has two ambulances; when a new one is purchased the oldest one is disposed of. Ms. Houghton is concerned with the speed of the ambulance people; there are small children in the neighborhood of the barn. Steve Neill said the Selectboard communicates with the ambulance staff when the need arises. Jerry Beaudry said a person interested in joining the ambulance service must submit an application and there is a three person committee, not officers, that look at the credentials. The person is reviewed and it goes to the general membership to talk
about it. In essence, everybody has a say in whether that person becomes a member or not. Most members work 40-hour jobs and yet volunteer; sometimes they have to get out of bed at 4:00 AM to respond; many people do not want to do that.
Paul Beaudry explained that the first people who get notified of a call are the Police Department. Jerry Beaudry, Tom Grant and Patti Grant respond to 80% of the calls because they are concerned and they want to do it.
Bob Kelcey, Police Officer, said when an officer arrives on the scene they do what they can do but most officers aren’t medically trained. Ambulance people do it because they want to help people. He feels that the full-time position should be available, it was an asset for the Town and he feels that it should be brought back. This can’t be fixed without everybody’s help.
Brenda Ferland lives on a corner, sees accidents and calls the Police Department to North Charlestown. The response time for an ambulance has always been good. Her mother had a heart attack and the Grants saved her life. Sometimes the Selectboard is aware of why people are refused as members of the service. People have to consider the time factor.
Jon LeClair advised that the intent of this meeting is not to badger the service but rather to get answers. They would like to receive monthly reports on the calls - a logbook. They also asked the Police Department to do the same. He would like to see more volunteers to make it easier for people to respond. We appear to be running about a 13-to-14 minute response time and that isn’t a bad time.
Steve Neill was contacted by three or four senior citizens that could not attend this meeting but they had high regards for the service. They asked for their names not to be mentioned but they made it a point to express their gratitude, appreciation and praise for the service. This Town has always been fortunate to have volunteers for the Ambulance Service, Fire Department and other organizations.
Approximately 48 people attended this meeting. Steve Neill closed this part of the meeting at 9:00 P.M.
Highway Department: Steve Neill reported that at the last Selectboard meeting there were two bids for work on the South Hemlock Road. Lane Construction bid on a different scope of work than requested. The bids were given to Keith Weed and the Highway Advisory Committee to review and they feel that the M.P. Flynn Company should do the work.
Jon LeClair moved to approve the recommendation of Keith Weed and the Highway Advisory Committee to authorize M.P. Flynn Company to do the South Hemlock Road project for the bid price of $134,083.00 to come out of the Paving and Reconstruction budget line, if the money is there. Seconded by Brenda Ferland. All in favor, so voted.
Transfer Station: Bob Davis made a run to the Mt. Carberry Landfill last Monday with trash and C & D. The people there seemed very nice to work with.
Brenda Ferland moved to adjourn the meeting. Jon LeClair seconded the motion and, on a roll call with all in favor, the motion carried. The time was 9:10 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Regina Borden Approved,
Steven A. Neill, Chair
Brenda L. Ferland
Jon B. LeClair
(Note: These are unapproved Minutes. Corrections, if necessary, may be found in the Minutes of the August 4th, 2004, Selectboard meeting.)
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